


a little unsteady

by hollyhobbit101



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [7]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Fluff, Hospitalization, Hurt TK, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Trapped in a Burning Building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:14:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24046456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollyhobbit101/pseuds/hollyhobbit101
Summary: 9-1-1, What's your emergency?'Please, help! My house is on fire and my husband’s inside!'ort.k. sometimes wonders if the universe is out to get him
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1691701
Comments: 10
Kudos: 180
Collections: 9-1-1 Lone Star Week, Bad Things Happen Bingo





	a little unsteady

**Author's Note:**

> Bad Things Happen Bingo prompt: Trapped in a Burning Building
> 
> Anon: Tarlos trapped in a burning building, please!!
> 
> also my entry for day 4 of lone star week, the prompt being '9-1-1, what's your emergency?'
> 
> title from unsteady by x ambassadors

**9-1-1, What’s your emergency?**

_Please, help! My house is on fire and my husband’s inside!_

* * *

T.K. sometimes wonders if the universe is out to get him.

Case in point: a seemingly standard house fire, one civilian trapped inside. He and Paul are to go in and rescue the guy while the others focus on putting out the fire.

Except the man has a dog. Which he refuses to leave without.

Cue T.K. having to wrangle an increasingly frantic dog with smoke making it increasingly difficult to see, with the added bonus of the house starting to cave in on itself. It’s a miracle that Paul manages to get outside with the civilian, both unharmed. T.K. should have made it out after him, except the dog chooses that particular moment to nearly escape from his grip, costing them precious seconds.

Seconds in which the ceiling finally gives up the ghost, knocking T.K. to the ground and blocking off the door. He’s lost the dog, too, though he knows that probably shouldn’t be his primary concern right now.

The collapse knocks his mask, so that it’s obscuring his vision and no longer covering his mouth, and he can’t get a hand up to fix it.

A terrible outcome all round, really.

He can hear his team calling to him through the radio, which thankfully, is not broken, but he can’t respond. The smoke is thick and heavy and T.K. struggles to breathe, harsh coughs forcing their way out of his throat. A slightly larger concern is the flames still licking up the walls, the heat starting to get to him despite his protective gear. He’s got something going for him in that he doesn’t think he’s actually injured, but that’s where the good news begins and ends; he’s still trapped in a building that’s going up like a tinderbox, and he doesn’t know how his team is going to get to him.

T.K. leans his head back, closing his eyes and trying to moderate his breathing. He needs to conserve his air, though it’s becoming harder to remember why. His eyes are heavy, and they’re stubbornly refusing all attempts on T.K.’s part to open them again.

Probably a good thing. He couldn’t see much anyway.

Only, with his eyes closed, it’s difficult to stay awake, which he knows he must. He tries to picture his dad, his team, Carlos, except the thought of them makes his heart seize because he doesn’t even know if he’s getting out of here and, oh god, he hasn’t even told Carlos he loves him yet, he -

He needs to calm down. His chest is tight with panic and lack of oxygen and, _fuck_ , it’s really hot in here. T.K. can feel his limbs get heavier by the second and he begins to sink into it. It’ll be okay, he can sleep for a little while. It’ll be okay.

A shaft of light and a blast of cool air hits his body and -

T.K.

slips

away.

* * *

He wakes up to a steady beeping and the feeling of tubes across his body. A hospital, then.

It takes him a while to remember how to open his eyes, but he manages, greeted by the sight of Carlos asleep in the chair next to him, his hand resting near T.K.’s. T.K. smiles, and he almost doesn’t want to disturb him, but he has a few things he needs to say.

The second his hand twitches, Carlos is awake, so quick that it makes T.K. doubt whether or not he was asleep at all.

“Hey,” T.K. rasps, wincing at the way it grates his throat.

Carlos smiles, clearly relieved. “You shouldn’t try to talk,” he says. “You inhaled a lot of smoke.”

“Sorry.” T.K. winces again and Carlos raises an eyebrow.

“What did I just say?” he admonishes, handing T.K. some water, though the look on his face clearly indicates that he knows T.K. is going to keep talking anyway.

Once the sting in his throat has diminished somewhat, T.K. looks over at Carlos again, drinking him in. “I thought…” he starts, then shakes his head. No speeches, he decides; he just needs to say it. “I love you.”

Carlos is quiet for a moment, and T.K. is suddenly afraid that he’s misjudged, maybe -

Carlos kisses him, then presses their foreheads together. “I love you too.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Carlos chuckles. “Even if you do keep trying to give me a heart attack by winding up in the hospital every five minutes.”

“Hey!” T.K. protests, but he’s laughing.

Maybe today was a good day after all.

**Author's Note:**

> as always, find me on tumblr @morganaspendragonss!


End file.
